RRI Sports Club

Romanian women’s volleyball team Alba Blaj for the second year running has got through to the finals of a top-flight European competition. We recall that in 2018 Alba Blaj came in 2nd in the Champions League, while this year, Alba Blaj has made it to the CEV Cup final.

Florin Orban, 06.03.2019, 12:42

Romanian women’s volleyball team Alba Blaj for the second year running has got through to the finals of a top-flight European competition. We recall that in 2018 Alba Blaj came in 2nd in the Champions League, while this year, Alba Blaj has made it to the CEV Cup final.

On Wednesday in the return leg of the semis, Alba Blaj grabbed a 3-nil win against another Romanian team, Stiinta Bacau. The match was hosted by the central Transylvanian town of Sibiu. We recall Romania’s vice-champions had won the first leg also 3-nil, away from home. In the return leg, the best player for Alba Blaj was Ioana Maria Baciu, with 19 points on her record sheet. Also compelling recognition for Alba Blaj were Serbian player Ana Lazarevic, with 9 points, and her US teammate Sonja Newcombe, with 8 points on her record sheet. Noteworthy players for Stiinta Bacau were Ana Cristina Cazacu, who succeeded 9 points, and Bulgarian Slavina Koleva, with 8 points.

In the final, Alba Blaj will face Italian challengers Busto Arsizio. We recall that in the semis, Arsizio defeated Hungarian opponents Swietelsky Békéscsaba, coached by the Romanian Bogdan Paul. Busto Arsizio won both legs of the tie, 3-nil.

In the last two years, Alba Blaj’s results have been the best in the entire history of the Romanian women’s volleyball. So far, it was men’s volleyball that provided top-notch performance, but that happened many years ago. We recall that between 1960 and 1963 Rapid Bucharest and TSKA Moscow practically disputed the European inter-clubs title. Both teams had grabbed two wins each. In 1966 and 1967, the European Champions Cup final pitted two Romanian teams against one another, Rapid and Dinamo. The latter emerged as winner every time.

The 1960s also saw notable performances in the Romanian men’s volleyball. All told, Rapid won the European Champions’ Cup three times, sustaining a number of four defeats. Dinamo won three finals and lost final confrontations three times. Steaua Bucharest twice reached as far as the finals, but never won. 1981 was the last year when a Romanian men’s volleyball team won a European competition, as Dinamo walked home with the Champions’ Cup.